From "a war without suspense" to "a seesaw game"

For the US forces, the war in Iraq is the largest overseas troop assembly after the Gulf War, and also a highly informationized war. But the coalition forces have been retarded in Iraq. One of its reasons is that the US forces are waging a war of yesterday with strategies designed for the future.

The main characteristics of the coalition forces' operations can be summarized as following: 1. Strike across the points; 2. Drive straight in; 3. Land actions with air support and vice versa; 4. Centripetal strike.

The main characteristics of the Iraqi troops' resistance can be summarized as following: 1. Resist at every step; 2. Set up defenses at key points; 3. Combine the military forces with civilians; 4.Carry out combat readiness and improve troops' street-fighting capabilities; 5. Reserve the strength and wait for chances to hit back.

Iraqi troops deployed their main power at Baghdad, Basra, Nasiriyan and so on. Basra became a nail embedded in the backside of the coalition forces. After they waltzed through the border and drove into Iraq, the coalition forces were confronted with fierce resistance at Najaf, Nasiriyan and Umm Qasr. The face-to-face battle which coalition forces expected was avoided by Iraqi troops. The process of the war proved that the guerrilla warfare strategy in the desert was effective.

Iraqi forces have built up a strong defense system since Gulf War around the capital Baghdad. To implement their "street battle in cities" strategy, the Iraqi forces obviously have taken the following measures:

First, they shrank the troops to reinforce the city of Baghdad. Large quantities of surface troops were deployed along the main highways to Baghdad to retard the coalition troops town by town, village by village. They will try to wear down the US army and lighten the pressure of direct strike on Baghdad.

Second, the elite Iraqi forces were centralized and deployed within and beside Baghdad. The main forces of the Republican Guard were all deployed in and around Baghdad. The Special Republican Guard (SRG) forces were also in Baghdad. They would impose a real threat to US forces if they have to fight fierce street battles to take over the city.

Third, paramilitary forces and militias were widely mobilized in Iraq. It was even reported that Saddam Hussein had set up a Jerusalem Army, which were composed of up to one million armed citizens, to fight the coalition forces "at any place."

Fouth, the unsymmetry warfare skills were practiced before the war began. Civilians in Baghdad received training on shooting, mine planting and demolition skills.

Fifth, Baghdad has made a long-term war preparation. Iraq has stored food, ammunition and medicine in Baghdad and other big cities for a long-term war.

From "non-contact combat" to urban warfare

In mid-September of 2002, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US forces put forth a report to the Congress on urban warfare in the war with Iraq. The reports abandoned the conventional thought of "avoid urban warfare or destroy the city" and raised a new combat method: isolate the city first, then launch precise striking on certain core targets in the city and control Baghdad through paralyzing or destroying the power pillar of Saddam Hussein.

The report pointed out that the US troops should try to avoid street battle in cities and if they had no other choice, they should be careful in choosing the targets and use special troops or precision-guided weapons to destroy these targets.

The report deemed that the most favorable situation for them was that Saddam Hussein would step down once Baghdad was under total besiege by the US and British troops.

The report also emphasized the importance of psychological activities in urban warfare. Therefore, in addition to the military action, they planned to launch political attacks by distributing leaflets and broadcasting over Iraq to persuade the Iraqis to revolt against Saddam.

In recent years, the US forces have made urban warfare training one of their most important subjects. To improve their operation capabilities in urban warfare, the US forces have learnt from the troops of other countries. At the beginning of 2000, the Russian attack on Groznij became a teaching material to the US forces.

Some US military training bases have set up an urban warfare training center. In the Army training center located in Louisiana, there is a mock city with tens of buildings. In the training center of George Air Base in southern California, more than 1,000 buildings stand, with many similar to those in Baghdad.

Before the 101 Airborne Division and marines headed for the Gulf Region, they have undergone specific training in urban warfare and conducted several large-scale joint urban combat exercises.

To meet the demands of the urban warfare, the US and British coalitions will put into use of unmanned ground combat systems, such as the K8 city robot and the "Patrol" transport machine of the US marines. These robots can carry out such missions in ground battle or urban battle as scout, search, mine sweeping, laying obstacles, dismantling bombs, ambush and attack. Most of the unmanned ground combat systems have been successfully developed and equipped to the coalition forces.

From the so-called "precise attacks" to "friendly fire"

Since the start of the war in Iraq, the US precision guided missiles have killed and injured a considerable number of civilians and US-British coalition troops. Even Tommy Franks, head of the US Central Command, admitted in one occasion that no one could guarantee that such accidents would never happen again.

High tech weapons are, to a great extent, very fragile. From a technical point of view, several factors lead to the series of mistakes of the US and British high-tech weapons. Firstly, the US and British high-tech weapons can not, at the currently stage, totally overcome the influences of sandstorm, rain and the changes in humidity. Secondly, There is still much to do in recognizing the targets for the US and British troops. Thirdly, the Iraqis have used a series of technical and tactical methods to confront the new weapons of the US and British troops, including: breaking the whole into parts, producing smoke and using GPS jamming to disturb the US-British coalition's precision guided missiles.

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